System and method for visualizing trend data

ABSTRACT

One embodiment of the application provides a system for visualizing trend data of an industrial performance (e.g., utility consumption) of a power plant. The system includes a macro trend view generator, navigator, a pointer position calculator, and a micro trend view controller. The macro trend view generator is configured to generate a macro trend view of a sensed parameter in a display. The navigator is configured to navigate a pointer for locating an area in the macro trend view. The pointer position calculator is configured to calculate a position of the pointer in the macro trend view. The micro trend view controller is configured to generate a micro trend view associated with the located area in the display, as a function of the calculated position of the pointer in the macro trend view.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates generally to the technical field ofvisualization of trend data.

BACKGROUND

Typically, a Supervisory Information System (SIS) is designed to manage,monitor and optimize the overall performance of a power plant. A typicalSIS normally contains tools, which are modularized software packages toread trend data from a database, perform calculations, and write theresults back to the database. However, a conventional SIS suffers from aproblem that the displayed trend data is not convenient for a viewer,who wants to see both the overview trend data and more detailed trenddata at the same time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments are illustrated by way of examples, and not by way oflimitations, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a GUI interface displaying at the sametime both a macro trend view and a micro trend view of coal pulverizercurrent of a power plant according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the trend datavisualization of a supervisory information system according to anexample embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating modules of a trend data processorof the supervisory information system shown in FIG. 2 according to anexample embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for visualizing trend dataof coal pulverizer current of a power plant according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for visualizing trend dataof coal pulverizer current of a power plant according to another exampleembodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a machine in the example form ofa computer system having a set of instructions for causing the machineto perform any one of the methodologies discussed herein may beexecuted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of example embodiments. It will be evident, however, toone skilled in the art that the embodiments of the application may bepracticed without these specific details.

The term “SIS” used in the following description denotes a “SupervisoryInformation System”, which is designed to manage, monitor and optimizean industrial performance as represented by a sensed parameter, e.g.,coal pulverizer current of a power plant.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a GUI interface 100 displaying at thesame time both a macro trend view 20 and a micro trend view 30 of coalpulverizer current of a power plant for a time interval generated by asupervisory information system according to an example embodiment. Inthe example embodiment, an industrial performance (e.g., coal pulverizercurrent) trend graph is visualized in two levels with the aid of anavigator.

The macro trend view 20 may illustrate an overall industrial performancetrend of a power plant over a period of time, e.g., a coal pulverizercurrent (Unit: A) trend changing over eight days. In one embodiment, theperiod of time may vary from short times (e.g., hours) to long times(e.g., days, weeks, or years). The macro trend view 20 may have a starttime (e.g., 12/12/2006), an end time (e.g., 12/20/2006), and a timeinterval (e.g., one day). In the macro trend view 20, a rectangularnavigation pointer 25 may point to or locate an interesting sub-periodof time confined between the start time and the end time of the macrotrend view 20.

On the other hand, the micro trend view 30 provides a more detailedindustrial performance trend within the interesting sub-period of timelocated by navigator pointer 25. As shown in FIG. 1, the interestingarea represents the coal pulverizer current (Unit: A) trend changingwithin three hours. The micro trend view 30 starts from 12/20/2006,12:00:00, ends at 12/20/2006, 15:00:00, and has a time interval of halfhour. The reduced time period allows more detail to be illustrated, suchas current values at specific times that are not viewable in the macrotrend view. The start time and the end time of the micro trend view 30are determined by the position of the navigation pointer 25 in the macrotrend view 20. For example, the position of the front side of therectangular navigation pointer 25 in the macro trend view 20 determinesthe start time of the micro trend view 30. The position of the back sideof the rectangular navigation pointer 25 in the macro trend view 20determines the end time of the micro trend view 30.

By the aid of a navigator 62 (which is not shown in FIG. 1, but is shownin FIG. 3), a user may move the navigation pointer 25 to locate a newinteresting area in the macro trend view 20. The SIS 200 may thereforedisplay the micro trend view 30 of the new located area. In one exampleembodiment, the micro trend view 30 is about the same size as the macrotrend view 20, and may appear to be in a separate window. Lines mayextend from the pointer 25 to correlate the micro trend view 30 to theportion of the macro trend view 20 identified by the pointer 25. In anexample embodiment, the navigation pointer 25 is a text cursor. Inanother example embodiment, the navigation pointer 25 is a rectangularmouse pointer.

The layout of macro and micro trend view windows and the shape of thenavigation pointer is not limited to the above example embodiments. Forexample, the navigation pointer can be in other conventional forms orshapes.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the trend datavisualization of a supervisory information system (SIS) 200 according toan example embodiment. The SIS 200 may display both a macro trend viewand a micro trend view in a display at the same time. In the exampleembodiment, the SIS 200 may include a display 10 to display at the sametime both a macro trend view 20 and a micro trend view 30 (e.g., asshown in FIG. 1), a macro trend view generator 40, a micro trend viewcontroller 50, a trend data operator 60, an input device 70, a database80, and a cache 90.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating modules of the trend dataprocessor 60 of the SIS 200 shown in FIG. 2. In the example embodiment,the trend data processor 60 of the SIS 200 may include a data accessmodule 61, a navigator 62, a macro trend view parameter receiver 63, amicro trend view parameter receiver 64, a user operation detector 65,and a navigation pointer position calculator 66.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in an example embodiment, the database 80 maycontain data or information about industrial performance (for example, acoal pulverizer current trend) of the power plant. In some exampleembodiments, the database may contain historical data, real time data,trend parameters, calculation results associated with a industrialperformance, e.g., the coal pulverizer current (Unit: A) trend. Anupdate device may, for example, update the real time data in thedatabase 80.

In an example embodiment, the input device 70 may be used to enter macrotrend view monitoring parameters, e.g., a start time, an end time, aninterval and a magnification factor for displaying the macro trend view20 in the display 10. In another example embodiment, the macro trendview monitoring parameters are default parameters set by the system. Amacro trend view monitoring parameter receiver 63 may, for example,receive the entered or the default macro trend view monitoringparameters.

In an example embodiment, based on the macro trend view monitoringparameters, the trend data operator 60 may use the data access module 61to retrieve macro trend data from the database 80. The trend dataoperator 60 may then transmit the retrieved macro trend data to themacro trend data loader 42. The macro trend data loader 42 may load themacro trend data, and then convert the loaded macro trend data into themacro trend view 20 to display in the display 10.

In an example embodiment, a user may use the navigator 62 to browse themacro trend view 20 to locate the navigation pointer 25 in aninteresting area within the macro trend view 20. The navigation pointerposition calculator 66 may then calculate the position of the navigationpointer 25 within the macro trend view 20. As shown in FIG. 1, thenavigation pointer 25 may be, for example, in the shape of a rectangle.From the calculated position of the navigation pointer 25, the microtrend view parameter receiver 64 may obtain the micro trend viewmonitoring parameters, e.g., a start time and an end time of the microtrend view 30. For example, the front side of the rectangular navigationpointer 25 may determine the start time of the micro trend view 30, andthe back side of the rectangular navigation pointer 25 may determine theend time of the micro trend view 30.

In an example embodiment, base on the start time and the end time of themicro trend view monitoring parameters, the trend data operator 60 mayuse the data access module 61 to retrieve micro trend data from thedatabase 80. The trend data operator 60 may then transmit the retrievedmicro trend data to the micro trend data loader 52. After that, Thetrend data operator 60 may then transmit the retrieved micro trend datato the micro trend data loader 52. The micro trend data loader 52 mayload the micro trend data, and then convert the loaded micro trend datainto the micro trend view 30 to display in the display 10.

In an example embodiment, the user operation detector 50 may be used todetect the occurrence of a user operation, e.g., the movement of thenavigation pointer 25 in the macro trend view 20 to trigger thegeneration of the micro trend view 30 in the display 10.

In an example embodiment, after the macro trend view data beingretrieved, the SIS 200 may use a cache 90 to store the retrieved macrotrend data for future use. The stored macro trend view data may be usedin future to generate an associated micro trend view 30. As a result,the time needed for retrieving the micro trend data can be reduced.

In one example embodiment, the macro trend view 20 may illustrate inreal time an overall industrial performance trend of a power plant overa period of time, e.g., a coal pulverizer current (Unit: A) trendchanging over one day. The end time of the macro trend view 20 may beset as the present time (or a time behind of the present time by a veryshort time, e.g., 2 seconds), and the start time of the macro trend view20 may be set as a time behind of the present time by the period of time(e.g., one day) of the macro trend view 20. With the macro trend view 20monitoring in real time the overall industrial performance trend, amicro trend view 30 may be generated in the ways as illustrated in anyof the above embodiments, and therefore may monitor a correspondingmicro trend view 30 in real time.

In one embodiment, an refresh or update device may be used to refresh orupdate in real time the industrial performance data stored in thedatabase 80. The industrial performance data may also come from otherresources than the database 80. For example, the industrial performancedata can come from a input device or other systems than the SIS 200.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 for visualizing trenddata of coal pulverizer current of a power plant according to an exampleembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, at 402, a request to display a macro trend view 20in a display 10 is received. The request may, for example, include macrotrend view monitoring parameters.

At 404, macro trend data is retrieved from a database 80 as a functionof the macro trend view monitoring parameters.

At 406, the retrieved macro trend data is converted into the macro trendview 20 to display in the display 10.

At 408, a navigation pointer 25 on the macro trend view 20 is detectedto find any user operation to the navigation pointer 25.

At 410, if the user operation detected, the position of the navigationpointer 25 in the macro trend view 20 is calculated. The position of thenavigation pointer 25 may, for example, determine the start time and theend time of the micro trend view 30 to be generated.

At 412, micro trend data is retrieved as a function of the calculatedposition of the navigation pointer 25.

At 414, the retrieved micro trend view data is converted into the microtrend view 30 to display in the display 10.

In some example embodiments, after retrieving the macro trend data at404, the SIS 200 may store the retrieved macro trend data in a cache 90(as shown in FIG. 2) for future use in generating the micro trend view30. As a result, when generating the micro trend view 30, the SIS 200may efficiently retrieve the micro trend data from the cache 90 (insteadof from the database 80), and thus may reduce the retrieving time of themicro trend data.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method 500 for visualizing trenddata of utility production of a power plant according to another exampleembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5, at 502, a macro trend view is generated from macrotrend data.

At 504, a user operation of a navigation pointer on the macro trend viewis detected.

At 506, a position of the navigation pointer is calculated.

At 508, a micro trend view is generated from micro trend data as afunction of the calculated position of the navigation pointer.

In some example embodiments, the macro trend data is stored in a cache90 (as shown in FIG. 2) for future use in generating the micro trendview 30. As a result, when generating the micro trend view 30, the SIS200 may efficiently retrieve the micro trend data from the cache 90(instead of from the database 80), and thus may reduce the retrievingtime of the micro trend data.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a machine in the example form ofa computer system 600, within which a set of sequence of instructionsfor causing the machine to perform any one of the methodologiesdiscussed herein may be executed.

In some embodiments, the machine may be a server computer, a clientcomputer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), aPersonal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance,a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executinga set of instructions that specify actions to be taken by that machine.Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine”shall also be taken to include any collection of machines thatindividually or jointly execute a set of instructions to perform any oneor more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 600 includes a processor 602 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU) a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both),a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, which communicate with eachother via a bus 608. The computer system 600 may further include a videodisplay unit 610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode raytube (CRT)). The computer system 600 also includes an alphanumeric inputdevice 612 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 614 (e.g., amouse), a disk drive unit 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g., aspeaker) and a network interface device 620.

The disk drive unit 616 includes a machine-readable medium 622 on whichis stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 624)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. The software 624 may also reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 604 and/or within the processor 602during execution thereof by the computer system 600, the main memory 604and the processor 602 also constituting machine-readable media.

The software 624 may further be transmitted or received over a network626 via the network interface device 620.

While the machine-readable medium 622 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present invention. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to,solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and electromagneticsignals.

The above-described steps can be implemented using standard programmingtechniques. The novelty of the above-described embodiment lies not inthe specific programming techniques but in the use of the methodsdescribed to achieve the described results. Software programming codewhich embodies the present application is typically stored in permanentstorage. In a client/server environment, such software programming codemay be stored in storage associated with a server. The softwareprogramming code may be embodied on any of a variety of known media foruse with a data processing system, such as a diskette, or hard drive, orCD ROM. The code may be distributed on such media, or may be distributedto users from the memory or storage of one computer system over anetwork of some type to other computer systems for use by users of suchother systems. The techniques and methods for embodying software programcode on physical media and/or distributing software code via networksare well known and will not be further discussed herein.

It will be understood that each element of the illustrations, andcombinations of elements in the illustrations, can be implemented bygeneral and/or special purpose hardware-based systems that perform thespecified functions or steps, or by combinations of general and/orspecial-purpose hardware and computer instructions.

These program instructions may be provided to a processor to produce amachine, such that the instructions that execute on the processor createmeans for implementing the functions specified in the illustrations. Thecomputer program instructions may be executed by a processor to cause aseries of operational steps to be performed by the processor to producea computer-implemented process such that the instructions that executeon the processor provide steps for implementing the functions specifiedin the illustrations. Accordingly, the figures support combinations ofmeans for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps forperforming the specified functions, and program instruction means forperforming the specified functions.

As a result of the application, it is convenient for users to monitor atthe same time both an overall macro trend and a more detailed microtrend view of an industrial performance, e.g., coal pulverizer currentof a power plant.

While there has been described herein the principles of the application,it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that this descriptionis made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope ofthe application. Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims, tocover all modifications of the application which fall within the truespirit and scope of the application.

1. A system for visualizing trend data of a sensed parameter, comprising: a macro trend view generator configured to generate a macro trend view of sensed parameter in a display; a navigator configured to navigate a pointer for locating an area in the macro trend view; a pointer position calculator configured to calculate a position of the pointer in the macro trend view; and a micro trend view controller configured to generate a micro trend view associated with the located area in the display, as a function of the calculated position of the pointer in the macro trend view.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user operation detector configured to detect a user operation to the macro trend view.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the pointer is in a rectangular shape, and positions of a pair of parallel sides of the rectangular pointer in the macro trend view determine start and end times of the micro trend view.
 4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a macro trend view monitoring parameter receiver configured to receive macro trend view monitoring parameters from an input device.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the macro trend view monitoring parameters includes start time, end time, and time interval of the macro trend view.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a micro trend view monitoring parameter adjuster configured to adjust a micro trend view monitoring parameter.
 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a data access module configured to retrieve data from a database for generating the macro trend view.
 8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a cache configured to store the retrieved data from the database for generating the micro trend view.
 9. A method for visualizing trend data of a sensed parameter, comprising: receiving a request to display a macro trend view in a display, the request includes macro trend view monitoring parameters; retrieving macro trend data from a database as a function of the macro trend view monitoring parameters; converting the retrieved macro trend data into the macro trend view to display in the display; detecting a user operation of a navigation pointer on the macro trend view; if the user operation detected, calculating a position of the navigation pointer in the macro trend view; retrieving micro trend data as a function of the calculated position of the navigation pointer; and converting the retrieved micro trend view data into the micro trend view to display in the display.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: after retrieving the macro trend data, storing the retrieved macro trend data in a cache to be future used for generating the micro trend view.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the retrieving micro trend data includes retrieving the micro trend data from the cache as a function of the calculated position of the navigation pointer.
 12. A method for visualizing trend data of utility consumption, comprising: generating a macro trend view from macro trend data; detecting a user operation of a navigation pointer on the macro trend view; calculating a position of the navigation pointer; and generating a micro trend view from micro trend data as a function of the calculated position of the navigation pointer.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising storing the macro trend data in a cache to be future used for generating the micro trend view.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the generating a micro trend view from micro trend data includes retrieving the micro trend data from the cache as a function of the calculated position of the navigation pointer.
 15. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions, which when implemented by one or more processors, perform the following operations: receiving a request to display a macro trend view in a display, the request includes macro trend view monitoring parameters; retrieving macro trend data from a database as a function of the macro trend view monitoring parameters; converting the retrieved macro trend data into the macro trend view to display in the display; detecting a user operation of a navigation pointer on the macro trend view; if the user operation detected, calculating a position of the navigation pointer in the macro trend view; retrieving micro trend data as a function of the calculated position of the navigation pointer; and converting the retrieved micro trend view data into the micro trend view to display in the display.
 16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions, which when implemented by one or more processors, perform the following operation: after retrieving the macro trend data, storing the retrieved macro trend data in a cache to be future used for generating the micro trend view.
 17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the retrieving micro trend data includes retrieving the micro trend data from the cache as a function of the calculated position of the navigation pointer.
 18. A graphical user interface (GUI) of a trend data view of a sensed parameter, comprising: a first region displaying a macro trend view associated with utility consumption; a second region displaying a navigation pointer to locate an area within the first region; and a third region displaying a micro trend view of the located area, the micro trend view is a magnified view of the located area from the macro trend view.
 19. The GUI of claim 18, further the navigation pointer is a text cursor.
 20. The GUI of claim 18, further the navigation pointer is a rectangular mouse pointer. 